Sfera serving up Sicilian street food and genuine community vibe in Edgewater
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A restaurant in Edgewater is serving up Italian street food, and bringing the community together, as it marks its first year in business.
On the corner of Broadway and Ardmore, Edgewater has its very own slice of Italy. Sfera Sicilian Street Food just celebrated its first anniversary, and it's already become a neighborhood favorite. And to think it all started with little balls of fried risotto known as arancini.
"It is this brilliant vehicle of being able to bring local produce and local product to people, all contained in this little magic ball," said co-owner Steven Jarczyk.
"It is truly a Sicilian dish," said co-owner Daniella Vitali.
Jarczyk and Vitali originally began Sfera by recreating the Sicilian street food experience.
"We started slinging our specialty arancini at local farmers' markets," Vitali said.
"We schlepped the fryer and the propane and all of that stuff, but it's such a cool thing to be able to get in the middle of a sunny day is a crispy, hot, hot arancina," Jarczyk said.
They became an instant farmer's market hit.
"One thing snowballed into another," Vitali said.
Sfera Sicilian Street Food eventually moved to being made in a brick-and-mortar restaurant, with an expanded menu of Italian favorites.
"Yes, it's Italian, but Sicilian is not your run-of-the-mill Italian," Jarczyk said.
And Sfera isn't your run-of-the-mill Italian spot.
"Everything on the menu takes no more than 5, 6 minutes," Vitali said.
"Fast and healthy and quality food, that's quick and easy, that you don't have to sit around and wait for," Jarczyk said.
Once you get your order, you can stay as long as you'd like, and feel like you're on the streets of Sicily without ever having to leave Chicago.
"You can be here as long hours or as short as you want," Jarczyk said. "It's cool that we've been able to create a space like that."
"We've become, you know, so very much a neighborhood spot. A lot of people are regulars. People know each other," Vitali said.
